On Monday, Vail Resorts announced a location-based mobile and web app, called Epic Mix. The company's Interactive Director, Mike Slone, sat down with us to discuss check-ins, pins, and where digital experience collides with a typical ski day.

It is still dumping snow across the west. Tahoe is getting hammered with feet upon feet of snow. Grand Targhee, Snowbird, Silverton Mountain, Alyeska—they're all getting snow. Winter isn't over—get out and ski powder while you still can.

Who can afford to ski the real Haute Route during a recession? What we need is a domestic version, a tour connecting, say, nine ski areas in Colorado. It’s out there for any mountain yokel willing to hoist a heavy pack, bribe snowmobilers, and break trail where trails aren’t meant to be broken. It starts in luxury and ends with nearly rotten mayonnaise—conditions permitting.